This invention relates to a vehicle trim panel having a sandwich construction including a central foam layer and fiber mats formed of natural fibers on opposed sides of the central foam layer.
Sandwich constructions including fibrous mat layers and central thermoformable foam layers are widely utilized in manufacturing vehicle trim panels such as headliners. The foam layer provides formability and strength to the overall trim panel. The fibers provide sound insulation and additional strength. These panels are widely utilized and have proven successful in achieving functional goals for vehicle trim panels.
There are some concerns with this type of panel, however, due to the fibrous materials that have been utilized. The fibrous materials have almost always been fiberglass layers having small glass fibers embedded in a plastic binding layer. The fibers are exposed at the edges of the trim panel, and thus are handled by assemblers or eventual users of the vehicle. The handling of the glass fiber can cause skin irritation, and thus it is desirable to minimize contact between the glass fibers and any users.
In the prior art, covering edges have been proposed. The covering edges are not fully satisfactory since they are expensive and require additional post-manufacturing steps to be applied. Typically, the trim panels are cut to size from a larger panel, and the edge would then have to be placed on the final trim panel. Moreover, the covering edges are unsightly.